It is common knowledge and a widely accepted perception that Cellular Data is expensive in North America and this drives most users to take measures to reduce cellular data usage on their Android Phone.
Especially for those who are on a Limited Data Plan, it is important to Monitor Data Usage and make efforts to get the best value out of their expensive Data Plans.
Luckily, it is really easy to monitor cellular data usage by apps and take measures to cut down or reduce cellular data usage by unwanted apps on most Android Phones.
Reduce Data Usage On Android Phone
Here are some effective tips to Reduce Data Usage on your Android Phone and get the most out of your Limited Cellular Data Plan.
1. Monitor Data Usage By Apps
Try to find the most data consuming apps on your phone and either remove these apps from your device (in case they are not important) or limit these Apps to Wi-Fi only.
1. Open the Settings app on your Android Phone > scroll down and tap on Data Usage.
2. On the next screen, you will see the List of Apps consuming cellular data on your Android Phone. Apps consuming the most amount of data will be on top of this list.
Most likely, you will see Social Media Apps like Facebook, Twitter and others consuming the most amount of data on your Android device.
2. Prevent Apps From Using Data For Background Activities
Apps like Facebook, Skype and others have a compulsive tendency to connect to parent servers and refresh data on a frequent basis.
These Apps remain active in the background and continue using a fair bit of data, even while you are not actively using them.
Luckily, can prevent many such Apps from using Cellular Data for background activities by enabling Data Saver option on your Android Phone.
1. Open the Settings app on your Android Phone > scroll down and tap on Data Usage.
2. On the Data Usage screen, tap on Data Saver.
3. On the next screen, move the toggle next to Data Saver to ON position.
As you can from above image, switching ON Data Saver prevents Apps from using expensive cellular data for sending and receiving data in the background.
3. Update Apps Over Wi-Fi Only
Large Software updates can end up using much of your expensive Cellular Data. Hence, make sure that Automatic App updates are always delivered to your device over a Wi-Fi Network and not over Cellular Network.
1. Open the Google Play Store on your Android Phone.
2. Once you are logged-in, tap on 3-line icon located at top-left corner of the screen.
2. From the drop-down menu, select Settings.
3. On the Settings screen, tap on Auto-update apps option.
4. On the pop-up, select Over Wi-Fi Only or Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi Only option.
After this change, all the Software Updates on your device will only be downloaded over a Wi-Fi Network, reducing your Cellular Data Usage by a significant amount.
4. Enable Data Saver Option in Chrome Browser
The Data Saver option in Chrome browser compresses web pages before loading them in your browser, saving a considerable amount of data.
1. Open the Chrome Browser on your Android Phone.
2. Next, tap on 3-dot icon located at the top-right corner and select Settings in the drop-down menu.
3. On the Settings screen, scroll down and tap on Data Saver.
4. On the Data Saver screen, move the toggle next to Data Saver to ON position.
Depending on your browsing habits, enabling Data Saver option in Chrome has the potential to save a significant amount of Cellular Data on your Android Phone.
Note: Enabling Data Saver Option can slow down web pages, but you will get used to it and appreciate the fact that the Data Saver is reducing your Mobile Data Usage.
5. Use Offline Google Maps
A wonderful feature of Google Maps is that it allows you to get Turn-by-Turn voice navigation, even when your mobile device is not connected to a cellular network.
This can be achieved by downloading the Map for your area over Wi0Fi Network and using this Map in offline mode on your Android Phone.
For more information, you can refer to this guide: How to Use Google Maps Offline On Android Phone.
6. Do Not Download/Upload or Send Photos Using Mobile Data
In this connected age, it can be really tempting to share photos and videos with your family, friends and relatives.
However, you need to be aware that even 60 seconds of Video taken with an Android Phone can consume as much as 200 ~ 250 MB of data.
Hence, it is really important that you do not Download, Upload or Share Photos and Videos while you are connected to the paid mobile or cellular network of your service provider.
You can always upload, download and share photos and videos while you are at home and your phone is connected to your Home Wi-Fi network.
7. Cut Down on Streaming Music Services
Streaming services like Vine, Spotify, YouTube and Groove are very convenient to use.
However, these services can end up using a ton of your Cellular data. Hence, consider downloading songs to your device over Wi-Fi Network and listening to them offline.